Clickbait: What Is It and How to Use It to Improve Your SEO?

What Is Clickbait? Meaning and Uses

First of all, do we know the meaning of clickbait? The answer is simple: it is, neither more nor less, a technique whose goal is to get the user to click on the content we are interested in.

At first glance, it doesn't have to sound bad. In fact, all of us who work in digital marketing try to attract users' attention to get more clicks through headlines, links, etc. Without more ado, if you are still wondering what clickbait is, look no further on the web; you have just found the real answer.

However, as the saying goes, "where there's a law, there's a loophole," the misuse of this technique has led many to distrust it. What could be used transparently to attract users and expand conversion potential ends up being used to deceive the reader.

Because of those who abuse this practice from a deceptive angle, there is a widespread feeling of rejection towards a resource that could actually help an online brand grow. It's normal; many times we see, for example, headlines that promise high-quality content behind them. On the contrary, we end up landing on useless texts that offer us nothing. That said, the goal has been achieved: a click has been earned.

From an SEO perspective, it's clear that if it isn't carried out correctly, this tool can be quite dangerous for any project we're working on. If we abuse this formula whose intent is to deceive, the only thing we achieve is to worsen the user experience, increase the bounce rate, and let Google end up rating our content as irrelevant. And the less relevance, the less presence we will end up having in its search results.

Clickbait Examples to Boost Your Visits

On the other hand, now that you know what clickbait really is, you shouldn't be so afraid of it. It's clear that the end does not justify the means (I think we all have that clear ?), but we shouldn't waste this medium; it's an added opportunity to attract more visits. We just need to keep in mind that we must 'play fair' and learn to handle this technique in a way that gets attention while also fulfilling the expectations we set.

So, what better way to explain how to use clickbait than through some practical examples to get more visits, increase your website's visibility, and improve your brand's branding? Without further ado, here we go:

What Are Clickbait Titles?

Clickbait titles have a sensationalist element whose intention is to grab the user's attention and subtly and indirectly invite them to click on the link. They are different kinds of titles that play with intrigue and spark curiosity through striking phrases intended to captivate the reader. As long as they live up to the expectations they raise through quality content, the question is: why not use this resource to attract more users to our site?

Now that we've defined what clickbait or click bait is, let's move on to sharing some tips for writing titles oriented toward 'click bait' to improve your website's SEO:

1) Think about how to spark the reader's curiosity, turn it into an SEO-friendly headline, and meet their needs

Standing out among so much content posted on the internet is very difficult. The easiest thing would be to cross the expectation line without fulfilling it later with weak content. So, you must be creative and try to write headlines that connect with your readers using interesting keywords and without deception along the way. Doing this helps us increase the CTR and bring in quality organic traffic. Otherwise, you'll end up experiencing a predictable death in your SEO strategy, since sooner or later Google will understand that you are showing mediocre information with no value to the user and will end up reducing your website's visibility in the SERPs.

Example:

"The 5 best braided and loose hairstyles to stay cool at the beach"

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  Informational long tail keyword for blog > braided and loose hairstyles (has a monthly average of 350 searches).

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  Format to connect with the user: generate a list so that users can quickly read all the proposed options.

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  Content to develop: it should respond to the search intent and satisfy it through original, quality content.

2- Use numbers, capital letters, and symbols to give more visibility to your headlines

Another good way to attract attention is to use numbers, capital letters to highlight what matters most, and/or even use symbols. You don't have to fall into sensationalism; creativity and quality can go hand in hand through these resources to get more qualified visits.

Clickbait to Improve SEO on YouTube

You already know what clickbait is and how to use it to attract clicks to websites. Ok. Good. And could we use it to rank videos on YouTube? Of course! You can give free rein to your imagination to grab the user's attention and get more clicks, as long as you include strategic keywords in the headline or link and your content lives up to the expectations generated.

Even so, remember not to fall into the cheap and dirty game of sensationalism!

As defined in Google's guidelines:

"Ranking by CTR usually delivers videos to the user that end up not being watched ('clickbait'), while videos with a long playback duration provide better engagement."

Now that we've defined the meaning of clickbait and shown you how to take advantage of it to improve the SEO of your website and your YouTube channel (always following good criteria and intentions, of course), you can start practicing until you hit the bullseye.

And if you succeed and want to share your tactic with us, we'll be happy to read you.

We'll be waiting for you in our comments section!!